A wager-based game may be generally defined as a game in which one or more players can place a wager or bet on an outcome that is uncertain at the time the wager is made.
In some wager-based games, a wager made by a player is accepted by a “house”, which may be representative of a gaming establishment hosting the particular game, for example. If the outcome is realized, the house provides a payout based on the wager made in accordance with established rules governing the particular game. Many popular casino games (e.g., Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, Baccarat, Let it Ride®, Caribbean Stud Poker®), fall into this category of wager-based games. In such games, payouts on player wagers are typically provided by the house when the player wins in accordance with the rules of the respective games, as may be the case if a player holds a hand (of playing cards) that beats the hand of a house dealer, or if the player successfully predicts the outcome of a random event associated with the roll of dice or the spinning of a wheel, for example. Some of these wager-based games allow players to make supplemental or side wagers in addition to their main wagers, for which separate payouts are provided by the house to the player if a particular event occurs (e.g. the player is dealt a specific hand of a set of pre-defined hands).
In another form of wager-based games, wagers are made between multiple players of a game, played between players and not against a house. Some variations of the game of poker (e.g. Texas Hold'em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha) fall into this category of wager-based games. In such games, wagers may be made by players at various stages during the play of a hand, each player betting that he will “win” the hand in accordance with the rules of the particular game being played. At the completion of a hand, each winner is then generally entitled to at least a portion of all wagers made during the play of that hand. In these types of games, although a house does not typically participate by playing a hand, in games hosted by a gaming establishment, a portion of all wagers made during the play of the hand (i.e. a rake) may be collected by the house before payouts are distributed to each winner.
Gaming establishments that host wager-based games are no longer restricted to traditional brick-and-mortar establishments, such as casinos. Online or Internet gaming is steadily increasing in popularity. Many games that are currently played online are electronic manifestations of already popular games that were traditionally only played “live”.